Friendswood Schools Museum opens door to bygone days

By Jennifer Bolton

Published 12:50 pm, Thursday, April 27, 2017

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Cheryl Bouillion holds a tiara from the Friendswood Schools Museum once worn by a Friendswood High School homecoming queen. "I feel like it's so important to preserve where you came from," says Bouillion, who helped plan the museum. less

Cheryl Bouillion holds a tiara from the Friendswood Schools Museum once worn by a Friendswood High School homecoming queen. "I feel like it's so important to preserve where you came from," says Bouillion, who ... more

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A vintage classroom setting is preserved at the Friendswood Schools Museum.

A vintage classroom setting is preserved at the Friendswood Schools Museum.

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A photo and a tiara help tell the story of how Ona Mae Brown Worden of the Class of 1946 had to settle for a sweaty football helmet for a crown when she was Friendswood High School's 1945 homecoming queen and how she got to wear a real tiara when she visited the Friendswood Schools Museum. less

A photo and a tiara help tell the story of how Ona Mae Brown Worden of the Class of 1946 had to settle for a sweaty football helmet for a crown when she was Friendswood High School's 1945 homecoming queen and ... more

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âIt was tough trying to decide what to display,â Cheryl Bouillion says of the Friendswood Schools Museum, which opened in October.

âIt was tough trying to decide what to display,â Cheryl Bouillion says of the Friendswood Schools Museum, which opened in October.

"I was told that they were interested in turning the (former) junior high into a museum that honored the history of schools in Friendswood. I was very interested in helping, because I feel like it's so important to preserve where you came from," Bouillion said.

Opened in 1939, the building served as a school for students in grades 1-12 through 1963. Growth sparked expansion and later the need for more buildings.

Bouillion was one of the students at the school when it served all grades. It later served as the high school.

More Information

FRIENDSWOOD SCHOOLS MUSEUM

What: A museum on the history of the Friendswood school district.

Where: Corner of Laurel and West Spreading Oaks in Friendswood

Cost: free

Hours: 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month through May 6

Details: To tour the museum outside of the operational hours, call 281-482-1267 to schedule a visit.

"The school had a lot of history because it's served so many students over the years." Bouillion said. "After NASA moved, in the population exploded and we had to expand the district."

Bouillion was driven to preserve the district's history and preserve the schoolhouse.

"It is such a graceful building. I wanted to make sure that we can make it last as long as possible," Bouillion said.

The museum is at the corner of Laurel and West Spreading Oaks and is open the first Saturday of the month through May 6 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

For Joycina Baker, historian for the city of Friendswood, the museum signifies the inherent desire of residents to preserve their heritage.

"Education has always been a primary concern in Friendswood," said Baker. "In 1895 when the Quakers settled here, the first thing they did was build a little building to serve as a church and a schoolhouse. That's the foundation of our education system here in Friendswood. After that blew down in the story of 1900, they immediately rebuilt it as a two-story framed building with a church on the bottom floor and classrooms on top."

Baker said that the idea for the museum came about from a school restoration project in Santa Fe.

"They had a little school house that was still good, but they had outgrown," she said. "Instead of tearing it down, they wanted to turn it into a museum, and I thought that was a fantastic idea. So, we took it back to the district. They support it and ran with it."

Baker said that Boullion was a natural choice to head up the historic preservation effort.

"She moved here when she was an itty bitty kid," Baker said. "She went up through the school system when the school house had all grades, first through 12th. She cared about history and she had a team of volunteers that felt the same way."

Fun trip down memory lane

The building originally had 12 classrooms, with walls being adjusted over the years as space needs changed.

Bouillion and others scoured the schools in Friendswood for memorabilia to put into the museum, and that history has been divided among the classrooms.

"It was tough trying to decide what to display," Bouillion said. "We have a spot for sports, band and twirling. We sorted through pictures, yearbooks, old letter jackets - it was a lot of fun."

The team responsible for bringing the museum to life also made sure to include a room renovated to show how it appeared when used decades ago.

Another room was renovated to be rented out for meetings and community gatherings such as baby showers.

Bouillion said that the community has rallied behind the museum.

sweaty helmet for A homecoming queen

The museum has provided some emotional and surprising moments for its visitors. One, Ona Mae Brown Worden of the Class of 1946, had been the 1945 football queen. At that time, she had to settle for a sweaty leather football helmet for a crown and had to contend for attention with a dog fight that erupted nearby just as her big moment was occurring.

When she came to the museum last year, she had the satisfaction of having her photo taken with a real homecoming crown, a sparkly tiara that had been worn by the the 1995 queen.

"The museum has stayed busy," Bouillion said. "I think it speaks to how people in Friendswood want to preserve their history."

For Bouillion, that's been the purpose all along.

"You won't know where you're going if you forget where you've come from," she said. "Preserving the history of your culture is an important thing."

If guests would like to tour the facility outside of the operational hours, they may call the school administration at 281-482-1267 to schedule a visit.